Trails and Triumphs
by XxSynergisticEffectxX
Summary: Sakura leaves on a mission given to her by an unknown man in the middle of the night. Who is he and what does he want? And is their love blooming for our young kunoichi?
1. Goodbye Kohana

Sorry guys I don't own Naruto or anything (sad) but anywhoser, to the story, shall we?

Run. That's all I could process as I dodged the kunai that was thrown at my back with a swift substitution jutsu. I looked down at the place I was previously standing seconds before from one of the higher trees concealing my chakra. My hand twitched toward the sword I had sheathed, affixed to my left hip but I calmed the urge, "You can't hurt Naruto-kun. Not like Sasuke did." My inner spoke tactfully. Naruto, Sai, Neji, TenTen Lee, Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata even Kurenai and Kakashi-sensei were chasing me down with shouts of, "Stop now and your punishment won't be as brutal Haruno-san!" And, "Sakura-chan why are you doing this!"

"Ugly! You can't keep up this game of cat and mouse we outnumber you tenfold!" Sai spoke a little louder but still using is nonchalant monotone.

"You can't run forever Sakura-chan!" Naruto howled looking around trying to get the slightest hint of me. I noticed his chakra was getting deadlier by the second and that I shouldn't be in the vicinity when he lost it so with a quick transportation jutsu I disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms.

_Flashback_

"_W-why now?" I fell to my hands and knees looking at the dark, looming figure that was standing in front of me. Their chakra sent shivers down my spine and made me want to puke. _

"_Because Imouto (A/N: Japanese for little sister)," he drew out the word and I didn't even have to see his face to know he was smirking, "this mission requires your particular abilities and besides if you don't we can always show our disappointment by destroying this pathetic excuse for a village." He prompted dangerously. _

"_O-okay. I'll do it but you have to leave me alone after I do this. I never want to hear or see you again!" I stood, only coming to the intruder's chest. _

"_Why Sakura-chan. That's no fun now is it?" He let out a sickening laugh as he vanished in a cloud of ash. _

"_Kutsuu (A/N: Japanese for Pain)…." I trailed off looking at the bright, full moon then heading to pack my things. _

_-Kohana Gates- _

_I took a step out of the borders then looking back I whispered, "Goodbye Kohana." _

"_Your not going anywhere Billboard Brow!" Ino wailed, lunging at me kunai in hand. I evaded her easily then using the pressure points in her neck, I knocked her out. "Kind of funny. You did what Sasuke did to you to your best friend." My inner mused playfully. I just let her ramble as I made my way to the Sound Village. _

I was snapped back to reality when I felt four chakra signatures and one was VERY familiar (A/N: I wonder who that could be?) coming towards me rather hastily. By the way they all surged I knew they had sensed mine as well. I contracted then loosened my muscles and sighed, "Ah Sasuke. Long time no see."


	2. Deal

He appeared in front of me looking as impassive as ever, "Sakura." He nodded curtly and I back-flipped to avoid the strikes from either side of me. I landed gracefully on the pads of my feet and unsheathed my sword, "Look. I didn't come searching for you or a fight. You were actually the last thing on my mind when I left Kohana. Now if you would just let me pass through next time we meet I promise we can fight until one or both of our demises I just need to pass."

A curvy red-head with black glasses a shirt that could be closed a little more, and shorts that were too short for her..ehem body type screamed, "SASUKE-KUN CAN FIGHT WHENVER AND WHOEVER HE PLEASES!"

My eyebrow twitched as I sheathed my sword and clenched my fist, "SHUT THE HELL UP FOUR-EYES THIS DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!"

She was momentarily silenced so I figured she was damned obedient or just shocked that I was being that childish but hey, she was quiet.

Sasuke spoke in his dull voice, "You betrayed Kohana?"

"Yeah so? What's it to ya?" I asked walking away with my hands intertwined behind my head.

"We need a medic." He said flatly appearing in front of me stopping me in my tracks.

I smirked and batted my eyelashes innocently, "Why Sasuke-kun would you be trying to ask me something?"

He looked contemplative for a moment before he nodded, "No. I'm TELLING you that your Team Hebi's new medic."

"Well your shit out of luck I wouldn't be here right now if I did the things I was told." 'Technically you would be.' Inner teased. 'Yeah but he doesn't need to know that.' I fired back.

His eyes flashed crimson, "Sakura.." he growled venomously.

I put my hands up in surrender and shrugged, "Alright. Alright. Don't get your panties in a wad Uchiha. I'll be your medic…on one condition of course. You and your team well OUR team has to accompany me to Sound for a reunion of sorts."

"And if I object?"

"Your out a medic and a fangirl." I bartered suddenly holding the red-head by her hair with my sword to her throat.

"Fine." He hissed, obviously not liking my trade.

"Good." I smiled, letting her go and walking toward Sound. "We'll walk til dark then camp. I still need an official introduction!"

I heard mumbles of protest but they followed except for Sasuke who always had to be the leader. I rolled my eyes, 'Somethings never change I guess..'


	3. Let the Games Begin

After our camp had been established: fish caught, fire started, tents pitched I stood and cleared my throat. "I'm Sakura Haruno."

Sasuke nodded and then the red-head spoke up, "I'm Karin." Next was a huge "man" with orange hair, "Juugo." Then a rather attractive guy who had faint blue hair, snow white fangs protruding from his mouth, glowing yellow eyes, and who looked a little older than me stood and I noticed he was carrying Zabuza's sword. 'Hmm..' Inner wondered stroking her nonexistent beard.

"I, I am Suigetsu." He said smirking while bending over and kissing my hand lightly. He stood, I then noticed how much taller than he was than me, he cleared almost a foot! As he went to his tent he made and announcement, "If you need anything Haruno don't hesitate to let me know."

I stretched my arms above my head and figured that if I was going to be awake before the sun I might as well be clean so I rummaged around in my bag to find clothing and then set off to find the nearest source of water.

"Aha!" I exclaimed lowly as I found a lake no more than 40 meters away from our campsite that looked clear in the incandescent light of the moon. I quickly stripped myself of everything possible and dove swiftly and quietly into the cool, crisp waters. I washed the dirt from my every conceivable place on my body and emerged from the chilly waters. Using a jutsu Tsuanade taught me I dried then dressed myself.

"Nice Sakura-chan.." a soothing voice purred from an opening in the forestry.

"Sui-Suigetsu! You pervert!" I yelled gathering my clothes while scrambling behind a boulder to cover myself. "Just saying. You shouldn't waste that body of yours." He laughed deeply then started to strip himself.

'He's flirting with you!' Inner screamed impatiently, 'Make him stop!' 'Maybe I don't want him to..' I thought earning myself a moment of silence so I decided to give into his childish antics, "Maybe I wouldn't waste it if the right guy came along. You know one with a taste in swords, and with bright lavender eyes.." I trailed off watching the surprise and lust mix into one huge emotion then wash away with a smirk.

I walked back to camp only to notice everything packed and a tired-looking Karin yawing.

"Where were you?" She asked suggestively, "No, wait. Where's Sasuke-kun!" She glared daggers at me then erupted, "What did you do to him! You're a spy for your village aren't you!"

I embedded my hand in her stomach with as much force as I could give without killing the poor girl and sighed as she bent over to puke, "Listen. I have no idea where your precious 'Sasuke-kun' is okay? We were teammates when we were younger and nothing else so calm yourself or you'll have a brain aneurism or something," I helped her up and handed the glasses that were knocked off of her face to her, "You should let Sasuke be. He isn't going to warm up to you that way. He's not going to warm up to ANYONE until his brother is dead and until then he's just going to reject and ignore you so avoid the hurt now and hop off his back eh?" I said patting her on the back and turning around to greet the returning males.


	4. Speak Of the Devil

"Speak of the Devil! Aye Sasuke! Juugo! Suigetsu…" I raised an eyebrow at the blood staining Sasuke's white shirt and the cut on Suigetsu's face. I nodded to myself and decided to let it go until I could get one of them alone.

Suigetsu noticed me staring and licked his lips, "Liking what you see or what, Sakura-chan?" He asked suggestively raising his eyebrows in a sensual way. I noticed Sasuke grip the hilt of his sword so tight his knuckles were burning white. His eyebrow furrowed slightly and his breathing became more and more shallow. I cleared my throat to relieve some of the tension that was between the two teenagers.

"We should be on our way, no?" I asked tightening the straps on my shoes.

"We'll continue until we get to the border of Sound." Sasuke said in his monotone voice.

"Yes Sir." I saluted then began to run off, hopping from tree to tree, branch to branch. I soon noticed Sasuke looking back at me so I decided to confront him now. I threw a kunai at him to diverge his attention then I tackled him to the forest floor.

"WHAT THE HELL SAKU-" I put my hand over his mouth to muffle his incessant yelling.

"Why did you hurt Suigetsu!" I demanded quietly, knowing that the team knew we weren't on the path anymore.

"That is none of your concern Haruno-san. Now if you don't mind," he got up while yanking me up with him by my wrist roughly, "I would like to continue our seemingly pointless journey."

I looked past him as if he were transparent to the gates of Sound that were far off in the distance. "Not pointless by a long shot." I said quietly running to catch up with everyone. As we ran I thought about things such as why my brother decided to come out of the blue now and what he exactly wanted me to do.

As we approached the gates my nose began to bleed and the muscles in my legs began to cramp. I sent chakra to those areas and stopped the pain. "Okay so how is this going to work?" I asked mainly to Sasuke who looked like he was still pretty ticked about my little incident on the way here. We snuck into the village by using Karin as a distraction then Suigetsu knocking them out. We took care of that swiftly and effortlessly.

"Sakura!" Karin called out, putting her hand on my shoulder, "Where are you going?"

"Just be ready to go by sundown." I advised to the team, they all gratefully accepted the break and we went our separate ways. After I was sure none of them were around I moved toward "Haiku" a seemingly popular bar in the area.


	5. Mission Start!

The room grew silent as I walked in, filling with whispers and wolf-whistles. I moved straight toward the back where the room was separated by a pale green curtain and guarded by a man who wore a mask to cover his nose and mouth and had translucent blue eyes, "Haruno." I said. He nodded in understanding and moved the curtain.

There were seven men sitting at a table, the women that I presumed were either prostitutes or strippers fled and I sat, wanting to get this over with.

"AH! Sakura! How glad I am you made it!" A man with dark red hair pronounced to the world.

"Uncle." I nodded politely. "If you don't mind I would like to know why I was called here."

Kuutsuu stood and handed me a scroll, "You have one day."

I tucked the scroll into my shirt, "I don't plan on taking that long at all." They all laughed and joked but, I left and decided to complete the mission.

_Scroll:_

_Uchiha, Sasuke _

_Age: 19 _

_Height: 6'2 _

_Weight: 164 lbs _

*Sakura noticed handwritten in the bottom of the page was this:

_Looks familiar, eh Sakura? I want this boy. He has traits that will be very, very helpful for our clan._

I shook my head and sought to find Sasuke, I went to the forest and found him training.

"Sasuke! Come here for a moment, please?"

He looked my way with a sneer, "Hn. What?"

I took a deep breath and began the war, "I just thought you should know Itachi is more of a man than you'll ever be."

I watched him register my comment and wasn't expecting the slap I got to the face.

"NEVER SAY HIS NAME AGAIN!" He growled, his breathing becoming erratic and shallow.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and stood, "What? Afraid of the truth? Sasuke-kun?" I mocked, ignoring the feeling of pure guilt that had planted its seed in my stomach and refused to let go.

He unsheathed his katana and held it towards me, "You will pay."

I drew my blade as well. "Bring it."


	6. MindGames

Sasuke began his Chidori Nagashi and I braced myself. 'Sakura! Why are you doing this?' Inner demanded. 'To protect them...' I replied, images of Naruto, Tsunade, Kakashi, Sai, Ino and everyone else I had come to love over the years. I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't notice Sasuke appear behind me.

"Hmph. I don't care how strong your chakra _feels_ you still _WEAK_." As the words left his lips my anger peaked. I turned quickly and sent him flying into an opposing tree. A growl and a gasp came from his chest and I inwardly flinched not wanting to kill him, just wanting him to know that I wasn't the same little girl that he was a part of team 7 with.

"Who's weak now?" I questioned rushing over to him only to pick him up by his collar and pin him to yet another neighboring tree. The blood rushed from a gash in his shoulder but still he bared his sickening smirk and laughed that awful malicious laugh. I dropped him and he disappeared. "Using Kakashi-sensei's old jutsu won't work on me Sasuke-_kun_." I said, my voice dripping with fake sweetness, using my acquired strength I looked around, 'Left. Right. Above. BELOW!' and sent a chakra laced punch into the ground below where my opponent stay hidden.

"You've gotten stronger I admit. But, your still no match for me." He boasted, activating his Mangekyo Sharingan. I willingly looked him in his deadly crimson shaded eyes and decided to take the battle somewhere he wouldn't expect me to have a chance. His genjustu was a strong one, I was strapped to a concrete slab and he stood in front of me with his Katana. With a quick fluid motion he had cut me from my stomach down to my ankle. "You will stay here for the next 72 hours, each minute will feel like an hour, each second like a minute."

I closed my eyes, concentrating, letting my Inner become visible. "HEY THERE SASUKE-KUN! YOU SHOULDN'T REALLY HIT GIRLS!" She yelled appearing behind him, kicking him in the ribs, sending him flying. She took a kunai from my pouch and cut through the straps that were affixing me to the slab. After she had freed me we began walking towards him, side by side.

"What? Y-Y-Your insane!" He cried, getting up and releasing his trap. As soon as we were back in reality I wasted no time in knocking out the mentally-exhausted self-proclaimed, avenger. Using the same two words he left me with I hit the pressure points in his neck making him fall into me. I delievered him to my family with guilt lining my insides.

"Ah! Well done Saku!" Kutsuu grinned like a child and handed me a wallet full of money, "For your troubles ."

I took the money, placing it in my weapons pouch, "What are you going to do to him?" I asked as I walked toward the exit.

"We'll probably just find a way to duplicate the Sharingan. Unless he gets fussy, then we'll rough him up a bit but, we won't kill him. You have our word." I nodded and left, making my way back to Kohana. 'Your word? Ha. Sasuke's as good as dead.' I thought the tears gathering, but I waved them away.

"It had to be done." I repeated the mantra over and over again in my head and verbally but it did nothing to make me feel better, more like strengthened my resolve that I was a horrible person and friend. 'He did knock you out and leave you on a bench..' Inner tried to make me feel better but it really made everything worse. 'So I knock him out and leave him with my psychopathic family? That seems fair.' I scoffed.

"What had to be done Saku-chan?" Karin inquired, Suigetsu and Juugo following close behind.

"Sasuke left to find his brother on his own. He left with the words, 'it had to be done' which is why I keep saying it." I lied smoothly; it didn't stop the girl's tears from falling or Juugo's face to twist in some unknown emotion. "He told me that we were to split and go our separate ways. Team Hebi is no more." Everyone nodded and transported away, going to find the next best thing I assumed, all except Suigetsu.

"He didn't leave. You handed him over for a bounty." Suigetsu snarled, "He may have been a bastard but he was my only chance!" He yelled, lunging at me.


	7. A New Life

I fought with the Rogue-Nin letting him get all of his frustrations before I told him why I had done what I had. "My family!" I screamed across the field we had ended up fighting in.

"What are you rambling about Girl?" He roared. I appeared next to him, "My family, they weren't bounty hunters. I didn't turn Sasuke over for money I did it to ensure Kohana's safety. I do apologize if I have hindered your future plans but it had to be done."

He released his grip on his sword and fell back into the lush grass. "I probably would've done the same thing. I hated the bastard. You know he almost killed me the day after you joined us? Yapping about how you were his and I was to stay away, insert eye flash here." He replied coldly, "But I guess he's not a contender for your heart anymore, now is he?" We both laughed at his dark joke and I stood.

"I'm going back to Kohana. If you surrender yourself you may get justice, I am the Hokage's best-student I'm sure I could get her to be lenient with your punishment."

"Nah," he shook his head, "I never did go well with villages but, I'll drop by every once in a while to visit in between my slaughtering." His eyes flashed with a deadly tint of gold but were back to purple in an instant. "Well," he said while getting up and stretching, "guess it's time I take my leave. Have a good life Sakura-chan."

"You too Suigetsu-kun." He froze in his tracks and turned to face me.

"What did you just say?" as I approached him I giggled innocently until I finally, kissed him. I opened one eye to see his stunned face, mouth tightly closed, eyes wide open, but he soon relaxed and got into it.

"I said have a good life Suigetsu-_KUN_." I turned and began to saunter off into the distance towards Kohana.

"Sakura! Hold on a minute! Did you just kiss me?" I turned only come face-to-chest with the man. I looked up and nodded.

"Yes Sir I do believe that's what I just did."

A contemplative look crossed his features, "If I come with you to Kohana, will there be more?"

"Maybe. But you'll have to come to Kohana first to find out now won't you?" I laughed at the look of disappointment that took ahold of his features. "Come on. I want to be there before the Sakur Festival!" I took his hand and we ran off into the distance, towards Kohana, towards a new life.


End file.
